Recommended Study Sequence

This unit introduces Asian Studies and International Relations. Considering both traditional and contemporary times, it seeks to place Asia's diverse cultures in a global context. It examines issues such as how to define Asia, the relationship between Asia and Australia, how Asian states related to each other, and how Western ideas of international relations have transformed these relations. The great religions/philosophies of Asian societies - Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Christianity and Confuscianism - have influenced Asian states and relations between them; and the unit considers their roles. It explores other forces which have shaped the civilisations, polities and communities of Asia and influenced how they have related to each other and the world beyond.

This unit aims to develop and refine students' skills in analytical writing, critical reasoning and the analysis of argument, especially within the context of Cultural and Social Analysis. It aims to develop students' understanding of how arguments are made, along with their ability to analyse and evaluate arguments, while at the same time helping them develop the capacity to make sophisticated arguments in essay form. Sample topics from which students can choose include: advanced database use, Endnote, techniques of visual analysis, punctuation, grammar, and advanced Internet use.

This unit gives students knowledge of research methods relevant to humanities disciplines. Modules provide advanced instruction in developing a research topic, evidence-based research and Human Research Ethics processes and policy.

This unit will analyse both the major international issues and crises which America confronted after 1945 and how successive American presidents and their policy makers responded to these problems

The encounter between Europe in Asia, propelled by European imperialism, is one of the great events of modern history. The unit ranges widely over Asia and considers issues of contact, perception, and interaction between Asian and European cultures and economies over a period of 500 years. It begins with the origins of Portuguese expansion overseas but there is particular emphasis on the so-called new imperialism of the period after about 1880 and the nationalist and other resistance movements that developed in Asia in response. Case studies will be made of two Asian countries.

This unit studies several key Asian cinemas and also examines the work of diasporic film-makers and audiences, with a discussion of the film and video work of Asian-Australian film-makers. Aesthetic trends - questions of form, style, narrative and genre, are explored as part of a study of the historical evolution of these cinemas and the ways in which they address issues of cultural importance. The unit encompasses questions of cultural difference, nationalism, and the hybridisation and globalisation processes at work in contemporary cultures. It will also present a critical evaluation of the assumptions that inform much of western scholarship on Asian cinemas.

A history of Buddhism and its spread through Asian and more recently to the West, introducing its principal beliefs and practices, the diversity of its manifestations, its political, cultural, and social impact. Focus is on contemporary Buddhism.

An introduction to aspects of contemporary Japanese society and culture chosen to introduce key aspects of Japanese society and culture, to position Japan in a global perspective, to investigate questions of how we form knowledge of societies other than our own.

This unit is concerned with cultural and intellectual change in twentieth-century China, which saw the end of the imperial system, the establishment of the Chinese Republic, the rise to power of the Chinese Communists, and the launching of the Four-Modernisation Program in the post-Mao era. It will offer insights into the Chinese search for modernity over the last one hundred years, especially the role of the intellectuals and their relations with society and state.

This unit is concerned with the theory and practice of democracy in modern and contemporary Asia. It explores a range of issues relating to liberalism, human rights, political reform and democratization. It seeks to explain the differences in the ways in which democracy has been conceived, understood and practiced in different cultures and societies. It also examines the East-West debate on "Asian values" and the suitability of Western-style democracy to Asia. Finally, it discusses the prospects for democracy in Asia.

This unit aims to investigate the experience of the 19th century European empires from the perspectives of both the colonized and colonizers. It examines the combination of domination and cultural negotiation between colonizers and colonized. It examines both how peoples were managed as imperial subjects and how they responded to this management. It looks both at the effect of imperial rule on the colonized, and of empire upon the colonizers. It draws upon historical literature from a variety of sources and perspectives, and within European and Asian history. The focus is chiefly, though not exclusively, upon the British empire and its subjects peoples.

This Asian history unit is concerned with the transformation of China in a social, political and intellectual context since the middle of the nineteenth century. The unit focuses on China's modern transformation in the first half of the twentieth century and its contemporary relevance. The scope is broad, encompassing changes from the last decades of the Qing Dynasty to the Republican era and the rise to power of the Communists in 1949. The approach is issue-oriented, thematic and, where appropriate, chronological.

This unit aims to provide third year humanities students with first-hand knowledge of workplaces or research processes related to their chosen filed of study (major), such as art galleries, museums, libraries, local and state government, tourism and administration or in academic contexts. The units will introduce students to various fields in which the skills developed over two years of study in humanities can be applied. It will augment their study and provide much need work experience. The internship placement and/or project will be chosen by the student in consultation with the staff member responsible for the major area and the placement will be overseen and the academic work assessed by the member of staff responsible for the major area of study relevant to the internship.

This unit will be replaced by 101543 - India:Global Contexts from 2010. A survey of the history of India from early times to Independence, looking at key issues for understanding modern India. It introduces the ideological bases of Indian civilisation; the three great religious systems of Asia, Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam, and their related systems of social and political organisation. It focuses on the contest of history in colonial discourses; the uses of history in creating modern citizens and states. It offers material on the theme of Asian modernities.

This unit examines contemporary foreign policy issues in North Asia from the perspective of China and Japan. Core issues include a critical evaluation of contemporary Sino-Japanese relations, the role both countries play in regional affairs and why North Asia (in particular the Korean Peninsular) is an intersection point for geo-politics.

The unit provides an overview of the main political features and issues of the Southeast Asian region. This region is adjacent to Australia and thus events there have great strategic and economic significance for us. The countries of Southeast Asia: Vietnam, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Burma, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and the Philippines, are organised into the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The unit focuses on the political relationships between these countries, both bilateral and regional, within the ASEAN and other nearby states, including Japan, China and Australia. Some of the issues covered include sensitive border disputes, piracy, illegal immigration, Insurgencies, Islamist terror networks, as well as issues related to aid, development and economic cooperation and competition.

This unit presents a social and cultural history of Japan from the mid nineteenth century to the present. The principle organising theme is the question of modernity: what are the different ways that Japan has expressed its modern identity? How has this been shaped by Japan's position in relation to both the West and its Asian neighbours? What is the relationship among the state, its citizens, and history in negotiating identity? How has war affected Japanese modernity and what we know of modern Japan?

This unit examines the interaction between politics and business in the contemporary East Asian and Southeast Asian contexts. Particular attention will be paid to the business-government relationship in a number of key countries and comparisons drawn. The unit examines the issue of the so-called "Asian Way" with respect to business, governing and achieving economic development. It also looks at the so-called "Asian economic miracle" and the "Asian economic crisis" and considers contemporary reform programs aimed at the business-politics nexus in Asia.

This unit provides an introduction to Australian foreign policy relations with Asia. It seeks to acquaint students with Australia's historic and contemporary relations with countries in East and Southeast Asia and to identity the factors that have contributed to their development.

This unit studies the post-war Japanese political experience. In particular examining the intersection between domestic political developments, and security and foreign policy matters.

This unit is concerned with developments in China since the establishment of the People's Republic in 1949. It will focus on the post-1976 period, which saw the adoption and implementation of an "open-door" policy and the launch of the "Four Modernisations". Due attention, however, will also be paid to the history and politics of the 1950s and 1960s as backgrounds. The unit will be issue-oriented, exploring a whole range of social and political issues that will have a bearing on China's future as a potential world power in the twenty-first century.

Unit offer depends on demand.

This unit surveys the history of Indonesia, Australia's nearest and most important Asian neighbour. Commencing with the coming of Islam to Indonesia in the twelfth century it concludes with the overthrow of Soeharto in 1998, but the focus is primarily on the 20th Century. The unit looks briefly at the Islamic and Hindu-Buddhist kingdoms, the colonial period, the nationalist struggle, the Japanese occupation and in more detail the first fifty years of independence. Indonesia's rich heritage of trade, culture, religions, and ethnicities are all dealt with. The units also examines historiographical problems for the study of Indonesian history and seeks to identify historical patterns.

This unit investigates the far-reaching political and social changes underway in Indonesia, Australia's closest and most important Asian neighbour. It studies in depth the turbulent period since the 1998 overthrow of Soeharto, paying particular attention to the dramatic struggle for political reform against efforts to preserve much of the status quo. The unit examines the far-reaching constitutional reforms implemented since 2000 and the accompanying new political structure that is emerging. Indonesia's status as an emerging democracy is a particular focus of the unit against the backdrop of challenges such as economic crisis, Islamist terror, separatist pressures, and endemic corruption.

This unit examines problems and issues in international politics. In particular the unit critically assesses the major theoretical paradigms associated with attempts to explain international behaviour of key individuals, nations and the international system. Major issues and key problems in world affairs since the end of World War Two (such as justice and equality, human rights and terrorism) are examined.

This unit will look at the historical heritage of Japan that is central to contemporary Japanese identity and culture.

This unit will examine a series of topical theoretical issues such as claims concerning the end of sovereignty, the emergence of a borderless world, the triumph of liberalism following the end of the Cold War and the so-called 'War on Terrorism' since the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. Finally it will examine the rise in prominence of so-called 'low politics' issues such as human rights, gender and the environment.